Zach Behrens

Photo by andrethegiant via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Calm down, not everyone will be voting in each of these, but here's what's up next: On April 7th, citizens of Glendale, Inglewood and Long Beach will vote for various elected officials for city and school districts. Glendale also has one ballot measure, a Utility User Tax Ratification and Update. Then on April 21st, Compton will hit the polls for a major city...

In today's online town hall meeting with President Barack Obama, possible questions were voted on by millions of Americans. Overwhelmingly, and not surprisingly, one of the most popular questions was in regards to marijuana and the economy. "I don't know what this says about the online audience," Obama remarked, adding "no, I don't think that's a good strategy to grow our economy." Jack Cole, the executive director of Law Enforcement Against Prohibition (LEAP), said...

This morning a boat load of whale watchers discovered a woman's body a a quarter-mile off Redondo Beach. 39-year-old Cindy Denq's death is being investigated as a possible suicide. Once a passenger on a previous boat ride, Denq had jumped off the boat, but was pulled back onto the ship after the skipper stopped and had her pulled back on board. Today, police say it appears that she entered the water from the beach....

Will it or won't it help the billboard blight problem in Los Angeles? Well, the majority of the Planning commission believes it will help. "On a 6-3 vote, the commission forwarded the new sign ordinance to the City Council, which hopes to vote on it by June, when a sign moratorium is set to expire," reported the LA Times. "The three opponents of the measure were commissioners Michael Woo, Cindy Montanez and Father Spencer...

As California awaits the state Supreme Court's decision on Prop 8's validity, New Hampshire's state house approved gay marriage today in a narrow vote. Since last year, civil unions for gays has been on the books in that state, but if today's bill passes through the state senate and other formal procedures, civil unions would be considered marriage under state law only as federal does not recognize same-sex marriage....

Ed Boks Spaying and neutering vouchers for low-income residents are back and it didn't come without controversy. The vouchers were cut a few weeks ago because of citywide budget cuts. Animal Services General Manager Ed Boks had a choice where to cut his budget, unfortunately for him, he chose one of the most hot-button issues. Councilman Dennis Zine, who slammed Animal Services' Ed Boks about blogging last week, has asked for him to step...

Photo by aharvey2k via the LAist Featured Photos pool on Flickr Found at a park within Park La Brea where the going rental rate of a 580 square foot studio starts near $1200....

An empty auditorium in Long Beach | Photo by jurvetson via Flickr The Los Angeles region is, if not the most culturally diverse areas in the country and Long Beach is no exception. Six months ago, some ten years after chartering a cultural master plan, the city finally set up a Cultural Affairs Bureau with one full-time staffer. Now, the city along with its mandated non profit, the Arts Council for Long Beach, is...

Satellite image of Orange County's Freeway Complex Fire in 2008 | The charred areas include Chino Hills State Park to the north and Cleveland National Forest to the southeast The Federal Land Assistance, Management and Enhancement Act (get it? The FLAME Act) passed this morning in the House of Representatives. If passed and signed by the Senate and President Barack Obama, the measure would create a reserve account that the Forest Service and Department...

When the state legislature and Governor Schwarzenegger signed off on this year's budget, it depleted transportation funding to countys and citys. That means transportation funds for city hall's transit lines will soon start operating in the red. We're talking about a $200 million yearly deficit. "How big is the deficit?" Damien Newton at Streetsblog asks. "It's so large that if the city cut every DASH, Commuter Express and charter bus route, the city would...

Obama's California campaign manager Mitchell Schwartz was all about Measure B, the solar power initiative that barely failed on the March 3rd ballot. His tune is changing, at least in regards to the city's leadership on the measure. “When something that should be very popular doesn’t pass, it is a wakeup call to the mayor and the City Hall establishment," he said to the LA Weekly. "There was something that went on that the...

It first started Saturday in the Salton Sea. By By the end of Monday, there had been about 42 earthquakes in the Bombay Beach area. Now? Over 260, counted the LA Times. "Most swarms go on for a week," seismologist Kate Hutton told the paper. She said that some swarms can bring on thousands of quakes over a few week period, noting that nothing appears to be unusual with this swarm, but colleagues are...